Myofascial Release

About John F. Barnes (Myofascial Release)

John F. Barnes, PT has been treating patients since 1960 and is the owner, director and chief physical therapist of the “Sanctuary” in Malvern, Pennsylvania and “Therapy on the Rocks” in Sedona, Arizona.

In addition to treating patients from around the world, John also manages a successful educational company, Myofascial Release Seminars. John F. Barnes began developing his Myofascial Release Approach® and teaching seminars in the 1970s. He has trained over 100,000 therapists and physicians in his highly successful Myofascial Release Approach®.

John was named one of the most influential persons in the therapeutic profession in the last century, in the national Massage Magazine’s featured article titled “Stars of the Century.” John F. Barnes, PT has been the featured speaker at the American Back Society symposiums for over 25 years. The American Back Society is comprised of neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, psychiatrists, therapists and TMJ specialists whose focus has been the most important advances in healthcare in the last century.

Myofascial Release Therapy

Myofascial Release is a slow sustained gentle stretch on the myofascial tissue in order to release the restrictions that can cause poor posture and pain. Fascia is made up primarily of densely packed collagen fibers that create a full body system of sheets, chords and bags that wrap, divide and permeate every one of your muscles, bones, nerves, blood vessels and organs. Every bit of you is encased in it. You’re protected and connected by fascia and kept in taut human shape by fascia. Fascia is a major player in every movement you make and every injury you’ve ever had. It structures your insides balancing stressors and counter-stressors to create mobility, flexibility and resiliency.

The John F. Barnes Myofascial Release Approach is considered to be the ultimate therapy that is safe, gentle and consistently effective in producing results that last. Trauma, inflammatory responses, and/or surgical procedures create myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures that do not show up in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.)

The medical approach is to drug patients so they temporarily are free from pain, but does nothing about the “straight-jacket” of pressure that is causing the pain. Traditional physical, occupational, and massage therapy treat the symptoms caused by the pressure of the “straight-jacket” of the myofascial system, but does nothing about the “straight-jacket” of pressure that causes and perpetuates the symptoms. This is why so many patients only have temporary results, never seeming to get better with traditional therapy. Myofascial Release treats the entire myofascial mind/body complex, eliminating the pressure of the restricted myofascial system (the straight-jacket) that causes the symptoms.